This invention relates, in general, to electronic components and, more particularly, to modules for mounting electronic components.
Some electronic components are used in high power or high current applications such as controllers for electric motors. Two of the most significant problems associated with these electronic components are the dissipation of heat generated by the electronic components and the protection of the electronic components from the harsh environment common to many high power or high current applications.
One previously known method of dissipating heat generated by electronic components is to mount the electronic components directly to a copper heatsink. Generally, such techniques are costly and introduce reliability problems due to the stress associated with mounting the electronic components to the heatsink.
To protect the electronic components from the harsh environments, an electronic component is formed by combining several electronic devices into a protective module. Typically, the protective module is formed from a complex sequence of molding operations that encapsulates the electronic devices within a combination of dielectric layers, conductive layers, and heat dissipation layers. Due to the complexity of the protective module, it is often very difficult to form reliable electrical connections between the electronic devices within the protective module. Furthermore, the process used to form the protective module is time consuming and costly.
By now it should be appreciated that it would be advantageous to provide an electronic component that not only provides adequate environmental protection and heat dissipating capability, but that is formed in fewer processing steps used to make conventional modules. It would also be advantageous if the process for making the electronic component provided options for forming the internal electrical connections between the electronic devices of the electronic component within the protective module.